"Unlucky"...

...as they say in the soccer world when great efforts do not produce great results, as in our efforts at the Annual Rector's Cup Soccer Tournament at Dunwoodie this past weekend.




Game 1: St. Charles vs. Mount St. Mary's: final score 2 - 4

"The Mount" as they are called, is the best team in the tournament and the holder of the Cup entering the tournament this year. We fought hard and proved ourselves to be worthy opponents. The Mount has several great players, one from Spain, who played a lot before coming to the Mount. There team was seasoned and well organized. At the end of the first half, they had a 2 - 0 lead, but we knew we still had a chance. One of my classmates, Scott Belina, led the charge at the beginning of the second half. On a great run, three minutes into the game, he plowed through the defense and put one in the net to make it 2 - 1. As soon as we got the ball again, we plowed through their defense once more and Scott was taken down in the box, in the 18 yard box, which drew a penalty kick (virtually unstoppable). Scott placed his shot nicely in the left corner to even the score to 2 - 2. Within five minutes, we answered what this great team, the Mount, had given the entire first half. They admitted later that they were very nervous. We held the score for the rest of the game and took them into overtime. After playing full force for two 40 minute halves, we went into two 10 minute halves, non-sudden death, meaning that we had to play the whole 20 minutes, even if someone scored immediately. This is where they got us: on a break-away they brought it to 3 - 2, and knocked another one in around the 15th minute of OT, making the final score 4 - 2. Many people said that St. Charles looked better than we have in years, and we all believe it. I was on the sidelines during the two goals and we were excited. I nearly lost my voice yelling with the team the whole game, encouraging the spirit of endurance and confidence. Despite the loss, we all know we played a great game and came together as a team.

Game 2: St. Charles vs St. Joseph's (Dunwoodie) 0 - 1

We were exhausted from the previous day's game, as was obvious once we started playing. I had a few good shots that almost went in, as did Scott and a few other players, but we just did not have good touches and passes. We were the better team, but we gave everything in the first game and had little left to give here. The first game was at 11am on Saturday and this game was at 11am on Sunday. The game stayed at 0 - 0 until the last two minutes of the game when, on a direct kick just outside the 18, St. Joseph's had a beautiful shot that went tight into the upper 90 (the high corner of the goal, which is very hard to block). I asked the referee for the time and he said, Two minutes. I sighed. We tried our best but then the whistle blew very soon. They were a great team, with many Franciscan CFRs playing, which is an Order that I discerned with many years ago.

We are, needless to say, very tired today, but it was a great weekend, especially since we played seminarians and the games were, for the most part, very clean and cordial. We began and ended every game with a group prayer, lead by a priest or deacon. Good stuff...
...now, back to the studies!!!

St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us!

Next year, we will be the Champions!!!

Peace and all good!